(i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to plant supports. In particular, the present invention relates to a plant support that utilizes a horizontal member that is dimensioned and adapted to allow the plant support to be inserted into the earth by stepping on the horizontal member.
(ii) Description of the Related Art
Plant supports are generally well known in the art. Arguably, the most common and popular prior art plant support is a post that has two ends and a length the re between. The bottom end of the post is inserted into the soil adjacent to a plant growing in the soil. As the plant grows it is tied to the post along its length to provide support for the plant. While the use of a post may be the most popular type of plant support, there are numerous other types of prior art plant supports available that do not require the user to tie the plant to the support as the plant grows.
Typical prior art plant supports include a plurality of vertical members and a plurality of horizontal members. The vertical members have opposite top and bottom ends. The vertical member bottom ends are adapted to be inserted into the soil to thereby anchor the plant support to the earth and enable the plant support to support a plant. Some prior art plant supports have vertical members with pointed or sharpened bottom ends to facilitate the insertion of the vertical members into the soil. Typically, the horizontal members are attached to each vertical member and are arranged so that the horizontal members are vertically spaced along the length of the vertical members. The major drawback of the prior art plant supports is that they are made out of a pliable or flexible material to save costs and for ease of manufacturing, thereby making the prior art plant supports difficult to insert into the soil.
In preparing to use the prior art plant supports, a user positions the plant support over the plant to be supported and attempts to insert the vertical member bottom ends into the soil. Because the vertical members are so flexible, they have a tendency to bend or deform as they are being inserted into the soil. Therefore, the user needs to grasp the plant support vertical members near their bottom ends to insert or force each vertical member bottom end into the soil without bending or distorting the plant support. The requirement of grasping the vertical members near their bottom ends requires the user to bend over and get close to the ground thereby causing stress on the users body and requiring a great amount of effort.
Additionally, because the vertical members are so flexible, the user usually can not insert the vertical members into the soil to the desired depth in a single step without bending or distorting the other vertical members. Therefore, when there is more than one vertical member the process of inserting the plant support into the soil typically requires the user to insert each vertical member individually. The user must partially insert each vertical member into the soil one at a time and continue inserting each vertical member further into the soil in a repetitive manner until the plant support is firmly anchored in the soil and the vertical members are at the desired depth. If the user were to ignore the consecutive and incremental insertions of the vertical members into the soil, the user runs the risk of deforming or bending the plant support while trying to insert the desired vertical member to the preferred depth in a single insertion.
The process of inserting the prior art plant supports into the soil is thereby tedious, difficult, and potentially stressful on a user""s body. Additionally, the user runs the risk of bending or deforming the plant support when inserting it into the soil.
The horizontal members of the prior are plant supports are typically round hoops with a large central opening through which the plant may grow. However, some prior art plant supports utilize straight horizontal members. Prior art plant supports that use straight horizontal members are configured to allow a plant to be tied to the horizontal members by rope, twine, string or the like and are similar in nature to the aforesaid posts.
The more common, hoop type horizontal members typically have hoops that increase in diameter as the horizontal members are arranged from the bottom of the plant support to the top of the plant support. The increasing diameter hoops also have an associated increase in their central openings. These types of plant supports are positioned on top of a plant and allow a plant to grow upwardly through the central openings in the horizontal members. The horizontal members thereby provide support for the branches of the plant at various levels and allow for the plant to increase in diameter as the plant grows upwardly. These prior art plant support horizontal members are made of the same flexible and easily bent material as the vertical members. Therefore, the horizontal members also have the tendency to deform during the insertion of the plant support into the soil.
Because the typical prior art plant supports utilize a flexible and easily bent material, the durability of these plant supports is low and the plant supports are typically used only for a few growing seasons. Because the vertical members are so flexible, the user usually can not insert a vertical member into the soil to the desired depth in a single action without bending or distorting the other vertical members. Additionally, the flexible nature of the prior art plant supports require the user to bend over or sit on the ground to grasp each vertical member near the bottom end to insert the vertical members into the soil.
Therefore, what is needed is a plant support that can be inserted into the soil with ease and little effort. The plant support also needs to be able to be inserted into the soil without bending or distorting. Finally, the plant support needs to be easy to manufacture at a reasonable cost.
The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of prior art plant supports by providing a plant support that is capable of being inserted into the soil in one easy motion. The present invention also provides a plant support that is extremely durable and long lasting. Additionally, the present invention provides for a plant support that can be inserted into the soil with minimal stress on the user""s body and without bending or distorting.
The plant support of the invention is comprised of both vertical members and horizontal members. The horizontal members are attached to the vertical members along the length of the vertical members. The horizontal members have central openings that increase in diameter as the horizontal members are vertically spaced along the length of the vertical members from the bottom to the top of the vertical members. The vertical members have bottom ends that are adapted to engage with the soil to anchor the plant support to the soil so that it may support a plant.
In the preferred embodiment, the plant support is comprised of at least one vertical member. The vertical member has opposite top and bottom ends that define a length of the vertical member. The bottom end of the vertical member is adapted to engage with and penetrate into the earth. The plant support also includes at least one horizontal member. The horizontal member is a rigid closed loop that is attached to the vertical member between the top and bottom ends. The closed loop has a central opening dimensioned and adapted to allow a plant to grow through the central opening and to be supported by the closed loop. Additionally, the closed loop is attached to the at least one vertical member at a position dose to the bottom end where it is adapted to cause the vertical member bottom end to penetrate into and engage with the earth when the closed loop is stepped on by a user to thereby anchor the plant support to the earth and provide a support for the plant.
While the at least one horizontal member has been described as being a closed loop, it should be understood that the use of the term closed loop is not intended to convey a particular geometric shape. The term closed loop is to be interpreted as meaning a band, a square, a triangle, a ring, or any geometric closed polygonal shape with a central opening. The term loop is not to be limited to a circular or ring-type configuration.
In the preferred embodiment, the at least one horizontal member is one of a plurality of horizontal members and the at least one vertical member is one of a plurality of vertical members. The horizontal members are arranged in a vertically spaced relation along the length of the vertical members between the top and bottom ends of the vertical members. In one embodiment, the plurality of horizontal members are rings that are concentric around a common vertical central axis. These horizontal rings have progressively differing central opening diameters. The central opening diameters of the rings increase as the rings are arranged along the length of the vertical members with the bottom or lower most ring having a smallest central opening diameter and the top or upper most ring having a largest central opening diameter. Each ring has a vertical cross-sectional diameter. The vertical cross-sectional diameter of the bottom ring is larger than the vertical cross-sectional diameters of the other rings. The larger vertical cross-sectional diameter of the bottom ring providing additional rigidity and structural durability for the plant support and allowing the plant support to be inserted into the earth by a user stepping on the bottom ring. The vertical members are typically made of rods with cross-sectional diameters that are generally the same as the vertical cross-sectional diameter of the lower most ring.
In the preferred embodiment, the vertical members extend upwardly generally parallel to the vertical central axis from their bottom ends to the bottom or lower most ring. This upright, vertical orientation of the vertical member bottom ends facilitates their insertion into the ground without bending. The vertical members then diverge radially outwardly from the vertical central axis as the vertical members extend upwardly from the bottom ring to their top ends.
In another variation of the preferred embodiment, the plurality of horizontal members are comprised of a generally triangular member and a plurality of rings. The triangular member and the rings share a common vertical central axis. The bottom or lower most horizontal member is the triangular member. Again, in this embodiment, the plurality of rings and the triangular member have circular vertical cross-sections. The vertical cross-sectional diameter of the triangular member is again larger than the vertical cross-sectional diameters of the rings. The larger vertical cross-sectional diameter of the triangular member providing additional rigidity and structural durability for the plant support and allowing the plant support to be inserted into the earth by a user stepping on the triangular member.
The plant support of the present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art. The use of the present invention plant support which has a bottom horizontal member that is positioned in close proximity to the bottom end of the vertical member and which is adapted and dimensioned to cause the vertical member bottom end to penetrate into the earth and anchor the plant support when it is stepped on by a user is less difficult to use than prior art plant supports. Because a user only needs to step on the lower most vertical member to insert the plant support into the earth and anchor it, the user is not required to get down on the ground to insert the plant support into the earth. Additionally, because the plant support can be inserted into the earth by stepping on the lower most horizontal member, the user does not need to worry about inserting each vertical member individually into the earth. The extra structural rigidity provided by the larger vertical members and the bottom horizontal member increases the durability of the plant support and increases the life span of the plant support beyond that of typical prior art plant supports. Furthermore, because only the bottom horizontal member needs to have a vertical cross-sectional diameter that is larger than the other horizontal members, the cost of producing the plant support of the present invention is less then the cost of making the entire plant support have the same larger vertical cross-sectional diameters.